Time's Avenger
by AziAchillesJackson
Summary: Percy Jackson has always been there, altering fate, saving the world but never getting the credit. When he gets an Iris message from his Dad in 2006 telling he has to go to Camp Half-Blood as a 12 year what's going to happen? What's going to happen roughly 4 years later when he meets the Avengers only to get whisked away to defeat Gaea. Surely saving the world proves his loyalty?
1. 1941

**AN: Hey! This is my first ever cross over so please don't be too harsh on me. Any flames will be ignored and I hope you like this story.**

 **The story begins roughly in 371 AD for all those who wanted to know and please Favourite, Follow, Review and all that random stuff. The more of all that means the quicker I update so ya know…**

 **AziAchillesJackson**

 **xx**

 **Chapter 1**

 _ **Third Person POV**_

Andronika, Queen of Sparta was tearing through the woods at speeds she thought she couldn't do, even with the _blessing_ of her people.

Sparta was in flames, a distinctive plume of smoke was steadily rising behind as she ran for the sea. Strapped to her front over the top of her armour was a baby. And not just any baby. The baby was a demi-god son of Poseidon. Her and her husband were going to raise the child in honour of the gods and Sparta, for him to be the perfect prince, humble and kind to everyone and merciless to his true enemies.

Andronika stumbled onto the sand and clutched Sparta's final legacy close to her chest as she waded into the water. She gently placed her son, Perseus or as she had taken to calling him, Percy, on the water and prayed to her lover. _Please Poseidon, take our son and raise him until he can look after himself._ The tide took the child out to sea as Theban soldiers burst onto the beach and forced Andronika to her knees. One soldier who looked to be in charge crouched down to be at her level.

He tenderly brushed back some hair from her face and leant forward to be next to her ear. "You know sweetheart; I might just let you grace my bed tonight." He whispered and planted a tender kiss on her cheek and pulled away.

Andronika glared long and hard at the man.

She would do anything do her _Percy_ was safe.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _1066, Calais, France_

 _Percy POV_

I was a literal arc of destruction as I decimated the enemy lines. Dad had told me it was crucial that England and the surrounding countries stayed under their own rule until the next millennium so here I was, destroying the Norman forces.

 _xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

 _August, 1588, England Coastline_

"Sir, the ships are coming in." Leroy Smitherson, a loyal soldier of mine said, coming to stand next to me. I stared out of the cliff, and I could just make out the ships.

"It seems I ought to cause some rough seas then does it not?" I smirked. Leroy was the only one that knew of my heritage and the true consequences of me losing my anger. Being born of Sparta meant I inherited the curse. Ο Σπαρτιάτης οργή του αίματος or _the Spartan Blood Rage,_ was a blessing the Ares placed upon my people long ago when the city was first founded. Being the last Spartan around Ares had made me his champion in honour of his people, hence making me partially immortal, like Artemis's hunters, only able to fall in battle

I felt a now comforting tug in my gut as I forced the sea into becoming choppy as the ships smashed against the rocks. A storm was forming above our heads, rain pelting down on us as the fleet was narrowed down to a few ships. Our fire ships went out and the Armada went down to the depths. Cheers and shouts rang from my troops and I remained stoic. This was only a battle in a war.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _Germany, 30 miles behind Hydra lines, 1941_

Upon orders of my father, I was shadowing Captain America on his messed up mission of saving roughly 400 men from a Hydra base in a hope that his friend, James Barnes was there.

He jumped out of Stark's plane and landed somewhat hap-hazardly on the ground, thankfully in one piece.

I crept up to him.

"So what's the plan Cap?" I smirked

He jumped and spun around, shield ready to attack me.

"Who are you?!" He asked

"Percy…Jackson." I hesitated and made up a surname. Jackson… I can work with that.

"Nice to see an American I suppose that still has the accent."

I laughed. "Plan?"

"Save men, piss off Hydra."

I blinked. "You know Cap," I broke into a grin. "I might just be able to get along with you."

We Shook hands.

"And I you, Jackson."

We _stormed_ their defences and infiltrated their building. I mean seriously, we were in the facility within 5 minutes of turning up. How weak are their defences like sheesh!? We headed to the cells and I heard a girl scream. We spun around, it was a girl, no older than about 7, trashing against some soldiers as they tore at her clothes. My blood boiled.

"Save the soldiers, Captain, I've got some demons to kill." He nodded at me and ran off, Killing at least three men with a single throw of his shield.

Time to cause havoc, I thought bitterly before I charged the men.

One looked and shot at me but I just tilted my body to avoid them. I slammed my fist into his face and span and knocked out his mate with a roundhouse kick to the face. The girl was crawling away, her fiery red hair looked almost like it was glowing in the light. Her clothes were torn and left very little to imagination. I tore off my cloak and walked towards her. She shimmied further into the wall.

"Who-who ar-re you?" She whispered, terrified. I stopped a couple metres in front of her and pulled off my mask, revealing my sea green eyes, tanned skin and messy black hair.

"My name's Percy Jackson, what about you?" I asked kindly, motioning her to come to me.

"N..Natash..a….Natasha Romanova or…or Romanoff." She scuttles towards me.

I helped her stand up and wrapped my cloak around her, transforming it into a Chiton to retain her modesty, tying it off behind her neck.

She flung herself at me, her green eyes damp with tears.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She repeated whispered into my ear.

"Anything for you Naty." I joked; I don't know why, but I had an extremely overprotective feeling surge through me. "Climb on my back and I can get you out of here."

With assassin's grace she swang around and wrapped her young legs tightly around my torso.

I rose to my feet and told her to hang on tight.

I broke into a run, Justice, my sword I used when I was dealing with mortals, in my hand. I weaved through passages and corridors towards the sound of battle. I found Captain America in a standoff with Smidt.

"So why are you running?" I heard him say as the scientist and Smidt disappeared into the elevator.

"CAPTAIN!" I shouted at him. "YOU HAVE TO GO NOW!"

The explosions were happening right below us and soon they start rising up.

"NOT WITHOUT YOU!"

I sighed. I prayed to Aunt Lady Hestia.

 _Lady Hestia please hear this little ancient demi-god's prayer. Please make some kind of bridge with the fire below so we can get out. I Know you're not supposed to mess with mortal affairs but since I'm not mortal this can work right?_

I heard a chuckle in reply and the flames were raised into a path from the side we were on to the side where the stairs were. Barnes and the captain yelled in surprise.

"TRUST ME CAPTAIN THIS WILL WORK JUST RUN ACROSS IT!"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME PERCY JACKSON?"

I rolled my eyes. "YES NOW GO!"

I saw him roll his eyes as he tentatively took a step forward, when it didn't burn him his eyes widened.

"ANY TIME TODAY CAPTAIN." I sarcastically called and he grabbed Barnes and ran across. I twisted my head so I could see Natasha.

"Do you trust me?" I asked. She squeezed me tighter and nodded into my shoulder. I ran to the bridge and across it

"We made it!" I whispered and her vice like grip lessened.

 _ **~~~Time Skip~~~**_

We were on the final stretch of our journey, The Captain who's name I learnt was Steve Rodgers, James 'Bucky' Barnes, Natasha and I were laughing at the front of the 400 men we saved. I turned to the two guys as the division became in sight.

"I'm sorry but this is as far as we can go." I said sadly as I shifted Natasha on my shoulders.

"But you're a hero, Perce, you need repaying!" Steve exclaimed.

I shook my head. "Meeting you guys is all the payment I need. One day Steve, you'll understand."

I embraced the pair in a hug and Natasha placed a sloppy kiss on both of their cheeks and high fived them. We had grown close and I felt bad to leave but it was for the best.

I looked after Natasha for ten years teaching her combat, knives, guns and daggers. As it turned out, Hydra had given her this serum meaning she would age much slower than the average mortal. As far as Apollo and I could figure out, she would age normally until she was 24 and then the serum would kick in.

When she was 17 she joined shield and quickly built an incredible reputation for herself, becoming known as the Black Widow. She was an assassin of Justice, killing off anyone the world would be better without.

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It was 2006 when my Dad Iris-messaged me.

There was a list of things.

Zeus knew I existed

His master bolt was missing

Zeus thought I took it

I needed to go to Camp Half-blood

I had to be a 12-year-old

It was going to suck.

Lady Tyche? Please may I have the best you have to offer?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I stumbled through Camp borders and I could _feel_ the stares on my back stumbled to the Big house where I saw Chiron and Dionysus.

"I'm here Chiron." I mutter collapsing on the nearest seat.

"It's been a long time Percy." Chiron smiled. When I was only seven I met Chiron and he trained me non-stop for twenty years. Somehow, by absolute miracle, he had even managed to make me be acceptable at archery.

But still. I was stuck in a camp with a bunch of amateurs for _at least_ a few years.

I sighed.

This was going to be a long few years.


	2. 2009

**AN: Hi Guys! I want to say a huge thank you to anyone who reviewed, favourited, followed and so on. I've decided to focus in on main battles and so on instead of typing out both of the series as it would be incredibly boring and not very Avenger-y. I've put a poll on my profile about the pairing for this story regardless of what is in this chapter.**

 **Please Follow, favourite review blah blah blah!**

 **AziAchillesJackson**

 **Xx**

 **Chapter 2**

I was doomed. I had, no matter how intentionally or unintentionally, fallen in love with Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. The first summer I spent there consisted of going to find the Lightning bolt.

 _You shall go west, and face the god who has turned,_

 _You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,_

 _You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend,_

 _And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end._

That was the prophecy we had to guide us and in a large nutshell, the quest went something like this.

 _Flashback of entire quest:_

 _At camp, I started to learn more information about how demi-gods live now_ _instead of what I had seen over the centuries. Chiron also seems insistent that I_ _am the prophecy child but I'm hoping I'm not because seriously, I don't need Mr_ _Hey-you-get-off-of-my-cloud-if-you're-not-going-to-worship-me-obcessively_ _(aka Zeus) to find any more reasons to hate me. When Zeus's master bolt (the_ _most powerful weapon to ever be made apart from *cough* titan's weapons_ _*cough* Other Big three weapons *Cough* *cough*) got stolen,_ _Apparently uncle lightening blamed Dad is blamed for the theft and then of_ _course he throws a hissy fit and tells Dad that the master bolt must_ _be returned to Mount Olympus by the summer solstice, or else he will declare_ _war. Later Dad Iris-messages me complaining that he's miffed that his brother_ _would even accuse him of such a thing._

 _So I get the delightful prophecy, fun times, set out on a quest to retrieve Zeus's_ _master bolt, which is believed to be in Hades's captivity in the Underworld._ _According to Chiron quests are now done in threes unless the prophecy states_ _Otherwise so I had to choose two companions that were Grover Underwood, a satyr, and Annabeth Chase,_ _daughter of Athena. We take a bus, which ends us up fighting Medusa in_ ' _Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, a truck to St Louis where I ended up_ _fighting Echidna and her son, the Chimera and won although then I was_ _suspected of terrorism as the Chimera blew up the arch as I jumped into the_ _river below. At a diner where we able to stop, we had burgers until Ares came_ _in and asked (demanded) us to do a side quest. So that's why the three of us_ _have an inside joke about the Tunnel of Love as Ares wanted us to get one of_ _his shields back and that happened to trigger the ride into going and hence the_ _gods of Olympus saw us making rights idiots of ourselves as we were attacked_ _by metal spiders._ _Ares thought he would award us and therefore gave us a_ _rucksack with supplies, and a ride in a truck to Vegas where we ended up_ _spending five days in the Lotus Casino, and a taxi cab to LA. In LA we were_ _almost stretched to death by Procrustes and hence I ended up tricking him into_ _demonstrating where I defeated him and freed Annabeth and Grover._

 _Once in the Underworld, we find that Hades does not have the master_ _bolt, and he is missing his own symbol of power: the helm of darkness. Hades_ _then accuses us of stealing both the master bolt and the helm of darkness for my_ _father even though that's impossible since I've never been to the Underworld or_ _Olympus before in all the years I've been alive. He accuses Dad of being power-_ _hungry so we end up in an argument which Annabeth has to break up. To make_ _things worse, the master bolt magically appears in the backpack Ares gave us_ _on Grover's shoulder while I'm is talking to Hades._ _After escaping Hades's wrath, Annabeth, Grover and I encounter Ares, the_ _god of war, on Santa Monica beach. Percy questions Ares and discovers_ _that Ares stole the master bolt and helm of darkness from the original thief and_ _I had a hard time believing that Ares would do that until I noticed the slight_ _golden tint his eyes had. As it turns out, Ares had been tempted by the_ _possibility of sparking one of the biggest wars of all time between the Big_ _Three: Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon. Ares and I battle it out on the beach, with_ _me calling on the powers of the sea to avoid being completely skewered and_ _I ended up beating Ares, winning Hades' helm. Ares curses me by saying that_ _when I needed my blade the most, it would fail me._

 _We return the helm of darkness to Hades via the furies much to Annabeth's_ _chargin as she has big monster trust issues but I told to simply suck it up._ _Grover insists we take a plane back to New York City or we'll never make it on_ _time. So there we were 600th floor of the Empire State Building aka Olympus_ _and we tell them everything that we know and suspect adding bits in to other_ _people's stories if it was relevant._ _Annabeth and I tell them that we believe Kronos, King of the Titans who ruled_ _in the age before the Greek gods, is getting ready to wage war on the_ _Olympians and the demi-gods. I tell them about the dreams about Kronos in_ _which Kronos talks to me. Zeus goes all arrogant saying it's pointless worrying_ _about the impossible blah, blah, blah and doesn't want to hear it. Our parents_ _tell us that they're proud of us and that we were saviours of earth and all that._

 _Flashback/explanation over. Normal time:_

Today was the last day of camp and Annabeth and I were just messing about by the lake laughing at ourselves. Ever since I had admitted my heritage to Annabeth, we became much closer and I felt somewhat…. Lighter? Maybe?

"Procrustes' face when he realised you tricked him was hilarious!" Annabeth was laughing hysterically and so was I and I joked about Annabeth dazed look from when we were in the Lotus Casino. She joking smacked me on the arm as I faked being wounded, rubbing my hand over it.

"Seaweed brain." She muttered failing to keep the grin off her face.

"Wisegirl." I muttered back grinning.

"Just you remember that Perseus of Sparta."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Soon Luke, a son of Hermes, came over to us saying Chiron needed to see me. Luke led me to the woods and I frowned in confusion.

"I thought we were going to the Big House?" I asked.

"Oh you are," He grinned. "I just wanted to talk to you first."

I followed him deep into the woods where we sat down and made idle chit-chat until I sensed something was wrong.

"Are you okay Luke?" I asked again, looking at him. He brought out a box from

"Of course I am!" He said cheerfully as he opened the box.

A pit scorpion shot out of the box and on to my hand and sat there

"Uh Luke?"

"How does it feel Jackson? To be defenceless? Where are those Gods now, eh? You want to know who stole the bolt? It was me: Lucas 'Luke' Castellan, soon to be saviour of the world from the Gods." He sneered

"Why?" I whispered

"Why? Because the Gods are arrogant, deceitful, stupid and ignorant bastards. I serve Kronos now and there's nothing you can do about it!"

He stormed off and left me there with the deadly scorpion. I tried to move but it slammed it's stinger down and I lost consciousness in seconds.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I woke up in the infirmary with Annabeth's head resting on my torso.

"Hey Wisegirl," I smiled as she shot up

"Don't you ever do that again Perseus Jackson!" She shouted drawing the attention of people nearby and some looked bemused.

"Sure thing Wisegirl!"

0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Saving the world became a yearly tradition for us to the extent that we named each year after a major event like the first year is the lightning thief, the year after we called the sea of monsters then the battle of the labyrinth and so on.

Currently we were stood in the lobby of the Empire State Building as campers got out of vans and walked to join us. Annabeth and Argus were quietly talking about something and he handed her a shield. About forty demi-gods stood in front of me action ready. I mentally sighed; how was I supposed to defend Manhattan with 40 people.

"Listen up guys," I started looking at everyone in the eye. "This is it guys – This is war. We _will_ defend Olympus and we _will_ win. We need to keep Manhattan in our procession so here's how it's going to work. We need to guard all the bridges and tunnels, the easiest way for them to do this is for them to launch either a mid-town or a downtown assault. Michael? Take the Apollo cabin to the Williamsburg Bridge. Katie, Demeter's cabin to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, use your powers to make ivy or bushes – whatever you want just _do not_ let them through. Hey Connor! Take half of Hermes Cabin and cover the Manhattan Bridge. Travis, you need to take the other half and cover Brooklyn Bridge. Hermes' kids that means no looting on the way!"

"Awwww!" the entire cabin groaned

"Silena, Drew? I need you to take the Aphrodite cabin to Queens-Midtown Tunnel."

"We can totally accessorize on the way because there's Fifth Avenue," An Aphrodite girl squealed, clapping her hands together. "And monsters _hate_ the smell of Givenchy!"

"If it works then go for it but don't take _all_ the perfume."

"Gotcha Perce!" The girl called from the back.

"Aphrodite cabin to me!" Silena shouted as her cabin went off running.

"What am I missing? Jake Mason! Take the Hephaestus Cabin to The Holland Tunnel. Use any traps, devices, Greek fire, whatever you've got." I turned to the newly appointed Hephaestus councillor. It had originally been Charles Beckendorf, but a duo mission with him, I had to jump off the ship we were on then and he was going to but didn't make it.

"For Beckendorf!" He grinned and led his cabin off.

"The Fifty-ninth Street Bridge," I said "Clari…"

I stopped. There had been a petty disagreement between the Apollo and Ares cabins over a flying chariot so she refused to come.

"The Athena Cabin can take it, bro." Malcolm spoke up saving me from an awkward silence from my stupidity.

"I'll go and activate the statues around the island on Guido." Annabeth said and jumped upon the waiting Pegasus and flew off.

"Hold up," a satyr said "You haven't covered the Lincoln tunnel."

Well shit, I thought sarcastically. We knew from what we saw on the way here there was already monsters using that tunnel to get here.

"The Hunters can take that Kelp Head." Thalia smirked. "Hunters of Artemis reporting for duty _commander._ "

I never thought I would be so happy to hear my lightning bug of a cousin in any situation.

"Thanks Gods for you Thals!" I embraced her in a hug as I caught sight of the band of thirty or so girls behind her armed to the teeth.

They had white wolves milling around their feet as if they were expecting the monsters to pop up out of the ground. But then again, I was half expecting that as well.

"We have some catching up to do, Death Breath as well, so usual place after the war or else." She threatening giving me that look that she always gave me when she was being serious.

"Yes we do." I said.

I turned to anyone left.

"You're the greatest heroes of this _age,_ Fight bravely and I'll open a tab at Domino's for anyone that survives this war." I raised Riptide. "FOR OLMPUS!"

"FOR OLYMPUS!"

Everyone cleared out and went to their posts.

We were in for the war of our lives.


	3. 2012

**AN: Heyyyy!**

 **I'm sorry it's been a while but I was trying to get my head around a story plan. Another sad thing is I can't necessarily promise that the chapters will always be this long.**

 **However good news is that I have put up a poll on my profile for that pairing of this story and this is the current results:**

 **Natasha R...** **3**

 **Reyna A...** **3**

 **Annabeth C. (No betrayal/Death)...** **2**

 **Zoe N. (Bring her back to life)...** **2**

 **Thalia G...** **2**

 **Agent Hill...** **2**

 **Artemis...** **1**

 **Rachael D...** **1**

 **Hestia...** **1**

 **Piper M...** **1**

 **Aphrodite...0**

 **Nymph...0**

 **OC...0**

 **Hazel L...0**

 **Gwen...0**

 **Please add your vote and Review! Xx**

 **AziAchillesJackson x**

Chapter 3

We had lost Silena Beauregard. She had turned out to be the spy but no one mentioned it because she died a hero. She had led the Ares cabin from camp in her bestfriend's, Clarisse la Rue's, armour into battle against a Lydian Drakon knowing full well she couldn't win. If that wasn't hero complex I don't know what was.

We had won the war despite our huge losses. The entire camp had lost someone, whether it be family or friends. The gods had lost children despite the fact they were supposedly omnipotent. And guess what? They still wanted to smite me on sight with the exception of a few.

Zeus sat in his throne. He glared across the room at my dad while all the other gods Walked in and took their seats. Even Hades was present, sitting on a simple stone guest chair at the foot of the hearth with Hestia who was smiling as the flames became full of hope once more. Nico also sat by the Hearth, cross-legged on the ground at his dad's feet.

I walked in with Dad both of us sharing details of 'The Battle of Manhattan' as everyone had taken to calling it.

"I'm proud of you Perce." He said

"I.. uh.. Anyone else would have… er…done the same." I stuttered

Dad shook his head. "I don't think you understand just how much you can do."

"Well, Poseidon?" Zeus drawled with a slight twinkle in his eye. "Are you too proud to join us in council, my brother?"

I thought Dad was going to be annoyed, but he just looked at me and winked. "I would be honoured, Lord Zeus."

Poseidon strode over to his fishing seat, AKA his throne, and the Olympian Council convened.

While Zeus was talking about the gods or something or other, Annabeth walked in with Thalia. They quickly and silently made their way over to sit next to me by the hearth where any demigods or hunters and taken to sitting.

"Miss much?" Annabeth whispered.

"Nobody's planning to kill us, so far," I whispered back.

Thalia snorted. "First time today."

I cracked up, but Grover nudged me because Hera was shooting us a dirty look.

"As for my brothers," Zeus was saying. "we are thankful"—he cleared his throat like the words were hard to get out—"erm, thankful for the aid of Hades."

The lord of the dead nodded. He had a smug look on his face, but I figure he'd earned the right. He patted his son Nico on the shoulders, and Nico looked happier than I'd ever seen him since the Bianca incident. I scowled at the ground in thought.

"And, of course," Zeus continued, though he looked like his pants were smoldering,

"we must . . . um . . . thank Poseidon."

"I'm sorry, brother," Dad's eyes shone with mirth. "What was that?"

"We must thank Poseidon," Zeus growled. "Without whom . . . it would've been difficult—"

"Difficult?" Poseidon interrupted innocently.

"Impossible," Zeus amended. "Impossible to defeat Typhon."

The gods murmured agreement and pounded their weapons in approval. Seriously- who does that anymore.

"Which leaves us, only with the matter of thanking our young demigod

heroes, who defended Olympus well—even if there are a few dents in my throne." He grumbled something about 'humiliation' and 'upstarts' and 'powerful'.

He called Thalia forward first, since she was supposedly his daughter, and promised her help in filling the Hunters' ranks.

Artemis smiled a rare genuine smile. "You have done well, my lieutenant. You have made me proud, and all those Hunters who perished in my service will never be forgotten. They will achieve Elysium, I am sure."

She glared pointedly at Hades.

He shrugged. "Probably."

Artemis glared at him some more.

Hades grumbled. "I'll streamline their application process."

Artemis grinned; clearly that was more than she were hoping for.

Thalia beamed with pride and happiness. "Thank you, my lady." She bowed to the gods, even our Uncle Hades, and then limped over to stand by Artemis's side.

"Tyson, Cyclopes son of Poseidon!" Zeus called. Tyson looked nervous, but he went to stand in the middle of the Council room, and Zeus grunted.

"Doesn't miss many meals, does he?" Zeus muttered.

Both Dad and I shot him harsh glares until he flinched and muttered an apology.

Annabeth smiled at my loyal antics.

"Tyson, for your bravery in the war, and for leading the Cyclopes, you are appointed a general in the armies of Olympus. You shall henceforth lead your brethren into war whenever required by the gods. And you shall have a new . . . um . . . what kind of weapon would you like? A sword? An axe?"

"Stick!" Tyson said, showing his broken club.

"Very well," Zeus said. "We will grant you a new stick. The best stick that may be found in all the lands.."

"Hooray!" Tyson cried, and all the Cyclopes cheered and pounded him on the back as rejoined them.

"Grover Underwood of the satyrs!" Dionysus called.

Grover came forward nervously, looking like he was begging for a coke can to eat.

"Oh, stop chewing your shirt," Dionysus chided. "Honestly, I'm not going to blast you. For your bravery and sacrifice, blah, blah, blah, and since we have an unfortunate vacancy, the gods have seen fit to name you a member of the Council of Cloven Elders."

Grover collapsed on the spot.

"Oh, wonderful," Dionysus sighed, as several naiads came forward to help Grover.

"Well, when he wakes up, someone tell him that he will no longer be an outcast, and that all satyrs, naiads, and other spirits of nature will henceforth treat him as a lord of the Wild, with all rights, privileges, and honors, blah, blah, blah. Now please, drag him off before he wakes up and starts groveling."

"FOOOOOD," Grover moaned, as the nature spirits carried him away. Annabeth and I burst out laughing at that causing many confused and annoyed looks to be sent our way. I figured he'd be okay. He would wake up as a lord of the Wild with a bunch of beautiful naiads taking care of him. Life could be worse.

Athena called, "Annabeth Chase, my own daughter."

Annabeth squeezed my arm, then walked forward and knelt at her mother's feet.

Athena smiled. "You, my daughter, have exceeded all expectations. You have used your wits, your strength, and your courage to defend this city, and our seat of power. It has come to our attention that Olympus is . . . well, trashed. The Titan lord did much damage that will have to be repaired. We could rebuild it by magic, of course, and make it just as it was. But the gods feel that the city could be improved. We will take this as an opportunity. And you, my daughter, will design these improvements."

Annabeth looked up, stunned. "My . . . my lady? Mum?!"

Athena smiled wryly. "You are an architect, are you not? You have studied the techniques of Daedalus himself. Who better to redesign Olympus and make it a monument that will last for another eon?"

"You mean . . . I can design whatever I want?"

"As your heart desires," the goddess said. "Make us a city for the ages."

"As long as you have plenty of statues of me," Apollo added.

"And me," Aphrodite agreed.

"Hey, and me!" Ares said. "Big statues with huge wicked swords—"

"All right!" Athena interrupted. "She gets the point. Rise, my daughter, official architect of Olympus."

Annabeth rose in a trance and walked back toward me.

"Way to go," I told her, grinning. I pressed a kiss to her cheek and Aphrodite squealed.

"PERCEBETH FOR THE WIN!" Cue WTHs in 3…2..1.

"What the Hell?!" We all shouted

"Modern culture anyone?" We must have all given her clueless looks. "Nevermind." She humphed

Annabeth however, hadn't been paying attention. For once she was at a loss for words. "I'll . . . I'll have to start planning . . . Drafting paper, and, um, pencils—"

"PERCY JACKSON, SPARTAN OF OLYMPUS!" Poseidon announced. My name echoed throughout the chamber. Trust Dad to be dramatic.

All talking died down. The room was silent except for the crackle of the hearth fire.

Everyone's eyes were on me—all the gods, the demigods, the Cyclopes, the spirits. I walked into the middle of the throne room. Hestia smiled at me reassuringly. She was in the form of a little girl now, and she seemed happy and content to be sitting by her fire again. Her smile gave me courage to keep walking.

First I bowed to Zeus. Then Ares. Then I knelt at my father's feet.

"Rise, my son," Poseidon said.

I stood up uneasily.

"A great hero must be rewarded," Poseidon said. "Is there anyone here who would deny that my son is deserving?"

I waited for someone to pipe up. The gods never agreed on anything, and many of them still didn't like me, but not a single one protested.

"The Council agrees," Zeus said. "Percy Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods."

I blinked and hesitated. "Any gift?"

Zeus nodded grimly. "I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Perseus Achilles Jackson—if you wish it—you shall be made a god. Fully Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lieutenant for all time."

I stared at him, stunned. "Um . . . a god?"

Zeus rolled his eyes. "A dimwitted god, apparently. But yes. With the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you a god. Then I will have to put up with you forever."

"Hmm," Ares mused. "That means I can smash him to a pulp as often as I want, and he'll just keep coming back for more. I like this idea." He winked at me showing me he didn't mean it.

"I approve as well," Athena said, though she was looking at Annabeth.

I glanced back. Annabeth was trying not to meet my eyes. Her face was pale. I flashed back to two years ago, when I'd thought she was going to take the pledge to Artemis and become a Hunter. I'd been on the edge of a panic attack, thinking that I'd lose her. Now, she looked pretty much the same way.

Who could refuse that? Who could possibly want to refuse godhood?

I thought about Luke and my promise to him.

And I knew what to do.

"No," I said.

The Council was silent. The gods frowned at each other like they must have misheard.

"No?" Zeus said. "You are . . . turning down our generous gift?"

There was a dangerous edge to his voice.

" Don't get me wrong. I'm honoured and everything," I said. " It's just... I've got a lot of life left to live. I'd hate to peak in my sophomore year." A couple of demi-gods laughed at me.

The gods were glaring at me, but Annabeth had her hands over her mouth. Her eyes shining. And that meant everything.

"I do want a gift, though," I said. "Do you promise to grant my wish?"

Zeus thought about this. "If it is within our power."

"It is," I said. "It's not even difficult. But I need your promise on the River Styx."

"What?" Dionysus cried. "You don't trust us?"

"Someone once told me," I said, looking at Hades, "you should always get a solemn oath."

Hades shrugged and grinned at me. "Guilty."

"Very well!" Zeus growled. "In the name of the Council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your reasonable request as long as it is within our power."

The other gods muttered assent. Thunder boomed, shaking the throne room. The deal was made.

"From now on, I want to you properly recognize the children of the gods," I said. "All the children . . . of all the gods."

The Olympians shifted uncomfortably.

"Percy," my father said, "what exactly do you mean?"

"Kronos couldn't have risen if it hadn't been for a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents," I said. "They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they had a good reason."

Zeus's royally red nostrils flared. "You dare accuse—"

"No more undetermined children," I said. "I want you to promise to claim your children—all your demigod children—by the time they turn thirteen. They won't be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. I want them claimed and brought to camp so they can be trained right, and survive."

"Now, wait just a moment," Apollo said, but I was on a roll.

"And the minor gods," I said. "Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Janus, Hebe-—they all deserve a general amnesty and a place at Camp Half-Blood. Their children shouldn't be ignored. Calypso and the other peaceful Titan-kind should be pardoned too. And Hades—"

"Are you calling me a minor god?" Hades bellowed.

"No, _of course not_ , my lord," I said quickly, smirking. "But your children should not be left out. They should have a cabin at camp. No unclaimed demigods will be crammed into the Hermes cabin anymore, wondering who their parents are. They'll have their own cabins, for all the gods. And no more pact of the Big Three. Because let's be honest," – I gestured to myself and Thalia- "That didn't exactly work anyway. You've got to stop trying to get rid of powerful demigods. We're going to train them and accept them instead. All children of the gods will be welcome and treated with respect. That is my wish."

"Is that all?" Zeus snorted.

"Percy," Apollo said, "you ask much. You presume much."

"I hold you to your oath," I said. "All of you."

I got a lot of steely looks. Strangely, it was Athena who spoke up: "The boy is correct. We have been unwise to ignore our children. It proved a strategic weakness in this war and almost caused our destruction. Percy Jackson, I have had my doubts about you, but perhaps"—she glanced at Annabeth, and then spoke as if the words had a sour taste—"perhaps I was mistaken. I move that we accept the boy's plan."

"Humph," Zeus said. "Being told what to do by a mere child. But I suppose . . ."

"All in favor," Hermes butted in before his Dad could start a new monologue.

All the gods raised their hands.

"Um, thanks," I said.

I turned, but before I could leave, Poseidon called, "Honor guard!"

Immediately the Cyclopes came forward and made two lines from the thrones to the door—an aisle for me to walk through. They came to attention.

"All hail, Perseus Jackson," Tyson said. "Hero of Olympus . . . and my big brother!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Annabeth and I were on our way out when I spotted Hermes in a side courtyard of the palace. He was staring at an Iris-message in the mist of a fountain.

I glanced at Annabeth. "I'll meet you at the elevator."

"You sure?" Then she studied my face. "Yeah, you're sure."

Hermes didn't seem to notice me approach. The Iris-message images were going so fast I could hardly understand them. Mortal newscasts from all over the country flashed by: scenes of Typhon's destruction, the wreckage our battle had left across Manhattan, the president doing a news conference, the mayor of New York, some army vehicles riding down the Avenue of the Americas.

"Amazing," Hermes murmured. He turned toward me. "Three thousand years, and I will never get over the power of the Mist . . . and mortal ignorance."

"True, I guess, thanks."

"Oh, not you. Although, I suppose I should wonder, turning down Godhood."

"It was the right choice."

Hermes looked at me curiously, then returned his attention to the Iris-message.

"Look at them. They've already decided Typhon was a freak series of storms. Don't I wish. They haven't figured out how all the statues in Lower Manhattan got removed from their pedestals and hacked to pieces. They keep showing a shot of Susan B. Anthony strangling Frederick Douglass. But I imagine they'll even come up with a logical explanation for that."

"How bad is the city?"

Hermes shrugged. "Surprisingly, not too bad. The mortals are shaken, of course. But this is New York. I've never seen such a resilient bunch of humans. I imagine they'll be back to normal in a few weeks; and of course I'll be helping. It's my job to monitor what the mortals are saying, and if necessary, help them make sense of what's happened. I'll reassure them. Trust me, they'll put this down to a freak earthquake or a solar flare. Anything but the truth."

He sounded bitter. George and Martha curled around his caduceus, but they were silent, which made me think that Hermes was really really angry.

I probably should've kept quiet, but I said, "I owe you an apology."

Hermes gave me a cautious look. "And why is that?"

"I thought you were a bad father," I admitted. "I thought you abandoned Luke because you knew his future and didn't do anything to stop it."

"I did know his future," Hermes said miserably.

"But you knew more than just the bad stuff—that he'd turn evil. You understood what he would do in the end. You knew he'd make the right choice. But you couldn't tell him, could you?"

Hermes stared at the fountain. "No one can tamper with fate, Percy, not even a god. If I had warned him what was to come, or tried to influence his choices, I would've made things even worse. Staying silent, staying away from him . . . that was the hardest thing I've ever done."

"You had to let him find his own path," I said, "and play his part in saving Olympus."

Hermes sighed. "I should not have gotten mad at Annabeth. When Luke visited her in San Francisco . . . well, I knew she would have a part to play in his fate. I foresaw that much. I thought perhaps she could do what I could not and save him. When she refused to go with him, I could barely contain my rage. I should have known better. I was really angry with myself."

"Annabeth did save him," I said. "Luke died a hero. He sacrificed himself to kill Kronos."

"I appreciate your words, Percy. But Kronos isn't dead. You can't kill a Titan."

"Then—"

"I don't know," Hermes grumbled. "None of us do. Blown to dust. Scattered to the wind. With luck, he's spread so thin that he'll never be able to form a consciousness again, much less a body. But don't mistake him for dead, Percy."

My stomach did a queasy somersault. "What about the other Titans?"

"In hiding," Hermes said. "Prometheus sent Zeus a message with a bunch of excuses for supporting Kronos. 'I was just trying to minimize the damage,' blah, blah, blah. He'll keep his head low for a few centuries if he's smart. Krios has fled, and Mount Othrys has crumbled into ruins. Oceanus slipped back into the deep ocean when it was clear Kronos had lost. Meanwhile, my son Luke is dead. He died believing I didn't care about him. I will never forgive myself."

Hermes slashed his caduceus through the mist. The Iris-picture disappeared.

"A long time ago," I said, "you told me the hardest thing about being a god was not being able to help your children. You also told me that you couldn't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they made it."

"And now you know I'm a hypocrite?"

"No, you were right, Luke loved you. At the end, he realized his fate. I think he realized why you couldn't help him. He remembered what was important."

"Too late for him and me."

"You have other children. Honour Luke by recognizing them. All the gods can do that."

Hermes's shoulders sagged. "They'll try, Percy. Oh, we'll all try to keep our promise.

And maybe for a while things will get better. But we gods have never been good at

keeping oaths. You were born because of a broken promise, eh? Eventually we'll become forgetful. We always do."

"You can change."

Hermes laughed. "After three thousand years, two of which you've seen, you think the gods can change their nature?"

"Yeah," I said. "I do."

Hermes seemed surprised by that. "You think . . . Luke actually loved me? After all that happened?"

I swore. "I promise."

Hermes stared at the fountain. "I'll give you a list of my children. There's a boy in Wisconsin. Two girls in Los Angeles. A few others. Will you see that they get to camp?"

"I promise," I said. "And I won't forget."

George and Martha twirled around the caduceus. Now I know snakes can't smile, but they seemed to be trying.

"Percy Jackson," Hermes said, "you might finally just teach us a thing or two."

Another god was waiting for me on the way out of Olympus. Athena stood in the middle of the road with her arms crossed and a look on her face that made me think Uh-oh. She'd changed out of her armour, into jeans and a white blouse, but she didn't look any less warlike. Her gray eyes blazed.

"Well, Percy," she said. "You will stay mortal."

"Um, yes, ma'am."

"I would know your reasons."

"I want to pretend to be a regular guy. Have, you know, a regular high school experience."

"And my daughter?"

"I couldn't leave her," I admitted, my throat dry. "Or Grover," I added quickly. "Or—"

"Spare me." Athena stepped close to me, and I could feel her aura of power. "I once warned you, Percy Jackson, that to save a friend you would destroy the world. You seem to have saved both your friends and the world. But think very carefully about how you proceed from here. I have given you the benefit of the doubt… and my blessing to court my daughter. Don't mess up."

Annabeth was waiting for me at the elevator. "Why do you smell like smoke?"

I smiled. Together we made our way down to the street level. Neither of us said a word. The music was awful; I should've made that part of my gift from the gods: better elevator tunes.


End file.
